


Falling

by asleepygay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Solangelo Anthology Submission, Will asks Nico out, and it's really cute I promise, and unnecessary over description of nature, dorky will, my b
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4513155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asleepygay/pseuds/asleepygay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will falls. He falls metaphorically, then he falls physically, and then he stands up and faces the cause of both.</p>
<p>And then he throws throws his feelings all over the place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> So this was my submission for the solangelo anthology. For anyone who doesn't know, the anthology is a big collection of solangelo fics and fanart put together by a couple of people on tumblr that you can find on solangeloanthology.tumblr.com and download it to your computer or phone or whatever and have all this great content in one convenient place. This was my submission, I think it's somewhere around page 60 or something, I'll have to double check
> 
> Also, I learned when writing this that I call Nico 'tall dark and handsome' way too frequently. Oh well.
> 
> Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write and I really like the way it came out and I hope y'all do to!
> 
> Unbeta'd, the version in the anthology might be cleaner and nicer than this one since I believe they had editors and I do not whoops

Will picked his way carefully down the large stones, but he definitely wasn't wearing the right shoes for navigating rocky hills. His flip-flops didn't grip the surface of the rocks well and is feet didn’t grip his flip-flops well and in barely three steps he found himself tumbling down the rocks, managing to catch himself after he had slid and rolled over several but just before he hit his head on the huge boulder Nico was seated atop. Nico, who had hardly even twitched at the orchestra of clattering stones and pained noises, looked calmly over his shoulder at Will’s slightly disheveled body. Will figured he probably hadn't been as stealthy as he had hoped to be.

“Flip-flops?” Nico asked wryly, accurately guessing the cause of Will’s fall, as he reached down from his perch to help the banged-up boy in question to his feet. 

Unfazed, Will shrugged and pulled a first-aid kit out of one of his many pockets and got to work on his scraped and bleeding limbs. “I don't really get out much. It’s not really an issue when I do, because I usually know where I'm going and can gear up appropriately. It took me forever to find you, y’know.” It wasn't really that Will thought this information would interest Nico, it was actually rather the opposite. The boys infuriated each other for fun; Nico made Will jump through hoops and Will complained obnoxiously the whole time. It was an integral part of their friendship, despite how polite Nico was to everyone else, considerate to a fault. Will spent far too much of his time running away with this information, frequently speculating on whether or not it made him special among Nico’s friends, but today he was banking on it. 

He looked around the clearing once more, looking for something to say to break the silence and get the ball rolling, something that wasn't the sound of his antibacterial spray. It was truly beautiful, a slight break in the forest’s towering trees for large tan rocks over which water tumbled further down in the hollow. The miniature waterfall was tiered, water pooling among dark, mossy rocks before tumbling down to the next level. The usual thick trees were broken up by smaller, springier ones with bright leaves which grew in the spaces of rich soil between the rocks. A waving, watery light was reflected on the canopy of thick leaves overhead. Nico always found places like this, pockets of nature so beautiful and pure they looked entirely untouched, and they might have been for how out of the way they always were. Nico never marred that quality, he blended so perfectly with the shadows and serenity that he seemed just as natural to the scene as the strong boulders that defined the space. Deciding he didn't want to come off quite that strong, Will kept those thoughts to himself and simply asked him how he found such hidden places.

Nico only shrugged. “I like being alone.” 

A year or two ago Will would have thought Nico was subtly telling him to go away, but now he knew better. In part because Nico rarely told him anything subtly, opting instead for bluntness and something in the range of sarcastic to aggravated, but also because Nico almost never told him to go away. He was quite heavily biased, but Will thought it seemed as though Nico felt equally comfortable being alone and being alone with Will, and while he often indulged himself in thinking about it, today he was banking on this, too. 

Unable to help himself, Will said, “You sorta look like you fit in here.” Not so smooth, but he hoped desperately that he at least sounded casual. 

Again, Nico shrugged. “I do, at least with the shadows.”

“I know.” Will said, much more grim than he intended, helplessly remembering exactly how well he had fit in with shadows a couple years ago, after the battle with Gaia. Judging by the way Nico turned away, almost shamefully, he was remembering that too. Will hadn’t come to make Nico feel uncomfortable though, so he turned away and finished disinfecting his many scrapes and busied himself with a band-aid for the deepest one, a short gash under his right knee that wouldn't stop bleeding, only to look up half a second later at Nico’s snort.

“Elmo?” He smothered his laughter and gestured to the blue bandaid covered in tiny images of the puppet that Will was smoothing over the cut. 

“The kids like them!” Will defended himself.

“Kids? What kids here are young enough to like Sesame Street?”

“Alright fine, I like them, but I'm head medic and I oversee, and by oversee I mean do all by myself, inventory and supply orders, so all you heroes out getting hurt can deal with the Elmo band-aids or you can bleed to death.”

“I really doubt an Elmo band-aid is stopping anyone from bleeding to death. I mean, sure, maybe all those lethal paper cuts we active heroes get, but at that point it’s not a tough call to opt out of a band-aid and save yourself the emotional pain that comes with it.”

“Maybe that’s why I do it.” Will said, schooling his expression and looking Nico straight in the eye, a wise eyebrow raised. “Maybe I save the camp thousands of dollars a year on band-aids because nobody wants to use embarrassing Elmo band-aids and so we never run out of them.”

Nico stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment, before replying with translucent honesty, “I really can't tell if you're joking or not. And I can't decide which one makes you stupider.”

Will grinned at him and winked, fast enough that even he wasn't sure he had done it, but Nico rolled his eyes and turned away, which lead him to believe he probably had, and wasn't that odd. Figuring he probably only had another couple seconds of reckless bravery, Will plowed on.

“So,” he finished packing up his kit, slid it back into his pocket, and pushed himself onto the rock so that he was seated next to Nico, looking him in the eye, “I did have another reason to come looking for you today, aside from missing your handsome face and rude insults.”

Nico rolled his eyes and gestured for Will to continue, and that was when his nerves starting gnawing on his sudden bold confidence. He had teased Nico in this way before, had sent more than a few ‘tall dark and handsome’ comments his way, but never like now, never before… this. He suddenly felt flimsy, transparent, like Nico could see right through him to the question that was clenching his heart, closing his throat and warming his cheeks and ears. But then, Nico hadn't acted any different than he normally did when Will flirted with him in jest and Will was suddenly gripped by a new, maybe even worse, fear. What if Nico really didn’t know? Despite how mere moments ago Will had been nervous that Nico could see how he felt about him, Will now dreaded to think that he couldn’t. Everyone with eyes could see how Will felt about Nico. Nobody said much to him except for his siblings’ occasional comments and jokes, but everyone knew. How could it be possible that Nico didn't? That would be impossible, so wrong that it was almost sad. He had to make Nico know now. This newfound resolve hardened his nerves and confidence once more, whereupon the exhausted emotions gave up and dropped down into his stomach, remaining in their hardened state. Will felt very much as though he had been kicked and was having slight trouble breathing, but his tumultuous emotions had finally come to a rest and, no matter how heavy they sat in his abdomen, he felt absolutely sure that he had to tell Nico. Nico had to know. 

“So you know you, right? And-and you know me,” Will faltered, almost losing confidence due to his less-than-stellar start, but then, it was significantly less flustered than he normally was when he considered his feelings for Nico. He grasped at the straw that was this thought and pulled, used it to focus himself the way he would if he were running around in battle searching for wounded warriors. It was unpleasant and difficult, but he had a job to do. Readjusting his humor shield, he plowed on, “And you know how we hang out a lot, right? And we have for a pretty long time. And that’s pretty cool. Well, a little while ago I developed this sort of… thing. Sure. A thing. And lately it has grown kind of a lot and I guess… I'm falling for you? I fell for you.”

Will had to stop here because gah what a terrible way to phrase that and if he hadn't scared Nico off before he certainly had now. Entirely nonreassuring, Nico’s jaw was slowly dropping downward. Figuring it was now or never, Will rushed the rest of the words out. “So yeah I basically like you a whole lot and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out with me. Like, if you wanted to be my boyfriend. And have a boyfriend. Who is me. That’s what I'm asking you.”

Nico’s jaw steadied somewhere around his navel and he was entirely speechless. The only times Will ever rendered Nico speechless were when he had said something remarkably stupid, and, while he had started his endeavor with ‘you know you’, he wasn’t going for this type of reaction. Suffice it to say, he was very worried.

“Um, Nico?”

“Yeah. Um. Hi.” Nico was turning slightly pink and allowing his too-long hair to fall in front of his eyes, but he still wasn't breaking eye contact with Will. It was a very rare day that Will made Nico blush. He wasn't sure that he ever had, actually, as Nico was an incredibly proud person and refused to allow himself to appear embarrassed by the likes of Will. Because of this, Will was entirely unsure what to make of this reaction. After an uncomfortable, and frankly alarming pause, Nico seemed to regain the gift of speech.

“Yeah.” He kept blushing, but he shook his hair back and a steadily growing smile was pulling at his lips. “Yeah, I'll go out with you. And be your boyfriend and all that.”

Relief exploded over Will, and it teamed up with glowing happiness and made him lightheaded. He hadn't thought much about being rejected, hadn't allowed himself to, but it hadn't occurred to him just how much he wanted this. He knew now, by the floating feeling that was filling his whole body and the ache in his smiling cheeks, that he had wanted this a whole lot. He knew Nico well and was sure that they would have to take it slow, and surely there were boundaries to be set, which he would gladly respect, but that could be sorted out later. Nico was his and he was revelling. Feeling goofy on euphoria, he glanced down, just to be sure of their position, then looked up at Nico once more, his grin now tinted with mischief. He reached forward and grabbed Nico, then pulled him close and threw both of them off the boulder and towards the sparkling water below. And together they fell.


End file.
